When I woke up the next morning, it took me a few minutes to remember where I was. Once I remembered that I was in the hospital, I remembered why I was there. And once I remembered why I was in the hospital, I remembered Ari, and it was like a train had hit me.
"Morning, Eminem," Charlie's voice came from the other side of the room. I looked towards him, and when I saw he was grinning, I couldn't help but grin too.
"Morning," I smiled, and I had opened up my mouth to say more, but Lauren and the other nurse, Amy, came in at that moment.
"Hello, Em. How are you this morning?" Lauren smiled at me, as I sat up. She handed me a tray of food and turned to check some of the various machines next to me. On the other side of the room, I noticed Amy doing the same to Charlie.
"Amy? Can we, like, go for a walk? Outside?" Charlie asked as he sat up.
"Well, I don't know about you, but Em surely can. If she's okay with pushing you in a wheelchair, then you can go with her," Amy smiled, and Charlie heaved a large sigh.
"That's right, I'm not really supposed to walk, am I?" I bit back a gasp, remembering how he had walked last night.
"No, not for a while longer," Amy replied as Lauren continued to check things.
"I don't mind pushing him," I said quietly, before taking a large bite of breakfast. Charlie turned to look at me, with a surprised but happy grin on his face.
"Okay. Just a few minutes and you're free to go," Lauren smiled at me. A few minutes later, Charlie was sitting in a wheelchair, and I was standing beside him.
"Are we off then?" he grinned. I nodded, and started to push him.
"So, you're a rule-breaker, are you?" I smiled, and Charlie looked up at me, puzzled. "You're not supposed to be walking."
"Who says I was walking?" he smirked, and I chuckled.
"Oh, so last night didn't happen?"
"Last night? What are you talking about?" he said, before breaking into laughter. I giggled along with him. I walked towards the elevator, where we were joined by another doctor.
"Hello," he smiled, and I grinned shyly at him.
"Hi," Charlie said. The silence for the rest of the elevator ride was a bit awkward, but at least it was short. When we reached the ground floor, I wheeled Charlie outside.
"We're going to a restaurant," I decided.
"We can do that?" Charlie asked, sounding confused.
"Yeah. I think so, at least. And at least they let me put normal clothes on," I grinned, and started to push him towards one of my favorite restaurants.
"And I'm guessing that I don't get a say in where we're going?" Charlie grinned, and I nodded.
"Nope. I know exactly where we're going. It's not too far," I said. Just a few minutes later, we'd arrived at a little cafe. We sat down, or, at least, I sat down, and a waitress came over to ask what we wanted to drink. Since it was still fairly early in the morning, I had coffee, while Charlie opted for orange juice.
"Coffee? Ah, that explains why you're so short. Must've stunted your growth," Charlie teased, and I reached across the table to jokingly slap him.
"I am not that short. Anyways, what are you going to get? I'm thinking a donut sounds awfully good."
"A donut? Really?" Charlie said, sounding disgusted. My eyes widened, confused as to how he could not like donuts.
"Yes. Really," I said, laughing. He ended up getting a cupcake. We spent a good half-hour talking, until I realized that we should probably get back.
"C'mon, Chuzzles, we should go."
"Aw, must we?" he complained, and I giggled. "And Chuzzles. Why Chuzzles?"
"Because," I said, standing up and starting to wheel him back towards the hospital. "Then let's go, Eminem. Back to the exciting life of the hospital," he said, looking up at me and grinning. For the first time, butterflies rose in my stomach at the sight of his grin.
